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100 Zlotys WW2 Polish Government in Exile
| Issuer | Bank Polski |
|---|---|
| Year | 1939 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Second Zloty (1924-1949) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Brown on light underprint. The central vignette presents a sweeping riverside landscape with a hilltop castle or fortification in the upper left, cattle and a wagon train along the bank in the foreground, and flat-bottomed river barges moored at the right shore. The composition is enclosed within an ornate guilloche border; the lower margin carries the denomination inscription "STO ZŁOTYCH" in bold serif lettering, the numeral "100" appears in the upper right corner, and the Polish eagle coat of arms is set within the left border panel alongside vertical patriotic inscriptions. |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
Bank Polski had fled Warsaw ahead of the German advance, and by the time these notes were printed in London, the institution issuing them controlled no territory whatsoever. The notes were intended for use by Polish forces in the West and for a liberated Poland that, for most of the war's duration, remained a political abstraction.
Serveau's design was borrowed from earlier prewar Polish work — a French illustrator whose name appears on several interwar European currency commissions. Vacek's engraving brought the detail up to De La Rue's exacting production standard. The watermark was retained as a continuity signal, linking these exile-issue notes back to the legitimate prewar series.
Unissued remainders from this printing survived in quantity, which is why uncirculated examples are far easier to find than genuinely used ones.